


I had a premonition that we fell into a rhythm

by how_to_sit_gay



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Internal Conflict, Post Demons of the Punjab, Pre-Relationship, The Doctor (Doctor Who) is a Gay Mess, Yaz also has her suspicions, but we been knew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:55:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23525743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/how_to_sit_gay/pseuds/how_to_sit_gay
Summary: [Set some time between "Demons of the Punjab" and "Kerblam!".]The Doctor tries to cheer up Yaz after the dramatic events in Punjab. Unfortunately she gets in contact with her very own demons in the process.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan
Comments: 22
Kudos: 54





	I had a premonition that we fell into a rhythm

**Author's Note:**

> Sweet mother, I cannot weave, slender Aphrodite has overcome me with Thasmin. Or Dua Lipa did.
> 
> Turns out, 'Levitating' is a whole ass Thasmin mood and it inspired me so much that I actually started writing again after an unplanned one year hiatus. But as it happened, I am a mess and on top of that the Doctor is a Mess(TM) with a capital M, so instead of the happy and fluffy fic the song is calling for, we ended up with this.
> 
> Disclaimers: 1) this is my first ever DW fic, I'm TERRIFIED. 2) English is not my mothertongue, I learned it good and proper in school, so I'm struggling with writing grammatically wrong things for dialect's sake. I'm still trying my best to get the voices right, I promise. Pls bear with me here.
> 
> Apart from that: have fun! :)

“I know it’s somewhere ‘round here! I swear I saw it the last time I was looking for that… that other… thing-y!”

Yaz rolled her eyes good-naturedly at the wildly gesticulating Doctor. “You said the same thing, like, hours ago. Are you pulling my leg or do you really know nothing about your own ship?”

The Doctor turned around on her heel so quickly Yaz almost ran into her. “Oi, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that. Or the TARDIS didn’t hear that. Well, she probably has heard that. Don’t give her any wrong ideas or we’ll be stuck wandering around for ages if she’s feeling feisty”, she shot a warning glance at the ceiling, “also, I haven’t had the time with you lot around to go into the nitty-gritty details of the new floor plan.”

“I wouldn’t consider a kitchen a _nitty-gritty detail._ ”

“Yeah well, that’s cos you’re human, I don’t have the need to spend most of my lifetime eating or sleeping - honestly, don’t get me started! You people spend one third of your life sleeping! The things I can do in that time!” The blonde knitted her eyebrows together in frustration.

“Apparently getting to know the TARDIS is _not_ among them.”

The Doctor couldn’t decide if she was offended or impressed by that comment. “Cheeky.”

“Well, you’re making me feel really special and appreciated here, Doctor.”

“Aw, Yaz, c’mon, you know how I mean it.”

The alarmed look on the Doctor’s face was almost enough to wipe the pout off her face. “I know, but I’m super hungry and therefore borderline grumpy.”

“Oh, that’s called hangry, right? I saw that on the telly when we had tea at Yaz’! Oh I loved tea at Yaz’, we really need to do that more often!”

“Well, we won’t if I don’t get something to eat soon”, she whined and walked ahead around the corner, “here’s another door, let’s just try this one.”

The Doctor barely had time to catch up with her. “Wait, you never kno-”

Yaz was met with pitch black darkness as she strode through the door without preamble. However, before she could turn around and quip about the TARDIS apparently having her very own black hole, a soft hum filled the air and a circle of soft orange light illuminated the periphery of the room. It was gigantic, even larger than the console room it seemed. But what took Yaz’ breath away for good was what happened just a few seconds after.

Bright spots started covering the ceiling - which turned out to be a massive dome - in a seemingly random pattern until- 

“Is that-”

The Doctor hummed in agreement. “The night sky as seen from Earth, ten points for Yaz! Well, as seen from Sheffield, to be precise. Well, as seen from Sheffield right this second, to be precise. Well, considering that there is no actual _right this second_ since we’re floating in time and space and time is wibbly-wobbly at best it’s more-”

“Yeah, yeah I get it”, Yaz interrupted her ramblings without taking her eyes off the sky. Or not-sky. It didn’t really matter to her to be honest, her growling stomach all but forgotten.

For once, the Doctor relented and let her mouth snap shut to grant her friend this moment (and she also might have been glad her whining - adorable as it was - had come to a momentarily halt). They stood in companionable silence for a while, Yaz looking up in almost childlike wonder and the Doctor watching her in return.

The soft touch of a hand at the small of her back pulled Yaz out of her thoughts. There were two things she became very aware of at once: the warmth of that hand seeping through her jumper and her painfully stiff neck. Turning around to face the Doctor, she shot her an inquiring look. There were so many questions right at the tip of her tongue, her mind was overflowing with them, but every last syllable got stuck when she was met with hazel eyes glowing almost golden in the dim orange light and the softest smile she had ever seen on the Doctor’s face.

“There’s a mattress in the middle of the room, more comfy than cranking your neck like that, eh?”

Without waiting for a reply, the Doctor went right ahead and flopped herself down gracelessly on the heap of big cushions, slightly bouncing up and down when her small body made the impact. Her face buried in a pillow, she could only hear Yaz’ laugh before another body settled in next to her in a more careful manner.

She turned onto her back only to find a big strand of black hair right in her face, tickling her skin. For a second, the scent of Yaz’ shampoo - lemon and lavender - filled her nose and she was tempted to just inhale and revel in it a bit longer, maybe play with it, but that would’ve been weird, right? She still wasn’t all that sure on human customs, yet she was quite positive that this would lead to at least one raised eyebrow and a questioning look. Nah, she wasn’t really in the mood for questions.

Thankfully Yaz saved her from diving deeper into her inner monologue by speaking up. “Of all the galaxies in the universe, why is Sheffield’s sky in this room?”

Well, alright, that was the type of question the Doctor could definitely deal with.

“It automatically shows the home sky of the person who’s in the room.” 

Of course this wasn’t enough to satisfy her friend. “But you’re in here too.”

“You went in first. As you tend to do, running headlong into the unknown without thinking, blimey, you’re worse than I am!” 

“I don’t think that’s possible, you’re just the worst”, Yaz rebutted laughing, shaking the cushions in the process.

The Doctor put a hand on her chest in feigned indignation. “Oi! What happened to ‘ _you’re like the best person I’ve ever met_ ’?”

At being reminded of her own words from not too long ago, a faint blush crept up Yaz’ cheeks. It might have been too dark in there for any human to see it, but to the Doctor the pink hue seemed as bright and clear as the North Star above them. What wasn’t so clear to her, however, was what that oh so little tinge of satisfaction at Yaz’ reaction nestled between her hearts was supposed to mean.

“So, when you come in here, it shows you the sky of your home? What’s that look like?”

Now _that_ was the type of question the Doctor hadn’t wanted to hear. She knew that this came from a place of innocent curiosity, of genuine desire for knowledge, but that didn’t change the punch in her gut she felt at it. Her voice sounding strained in her own ears, she tried to reply as indifferently as possible.

“Different.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Yaz’ smile falter. Yet admirable as she was, she composed herself and soldiered on. “You’re always deflecting when we ask you about your home or family or anything personal at all, don’t think we don’t notice.”

She had to give her that. “Wouldn’t dream of it, you lot are too clever for your own good sometimes you are, that’s why you’re my team TARDIS after all.” 

“Doctor.”

She screwed her eyes shut tightly. This was not how she had wanted this to go. All the Doctor had wanted was to do something nice for Yaz (yes they might not have stumbled across this room completely _by accident_ , so sue her), to distract her from what she had to witness a few weeks back in Punjab and see that beautiful smile on her face again, and now they had somehow circled their way to her own circus of demons.

“Yaz, please.” 

The sigh from Yaz’ lips was almost painful to listen to. “Yeah, alright.”

The Doctor pressed her lips together in frustration. She had never felt worse about getting her way than in this moment at her friend’s disappointment. Her mission was to give her something to smile about. There was no room for frowns in that plan. She needed to step up her game.

“Watch out for this.” At once, bands of green and blue and yellow fanned across the sky. “Not Sheffield anymore, but I guess this is quite alright too, eh?”

The Doctor could actually see the second Yaz decided to let the previous conversation go and just give in to the feeling of wonder and astonishment. Humans and the Northern Lights, there was just something about them that people were unable to resist to. It was quite endearing. Almost as endearing as the look on the young woman’s face.

“This is beautiful”, Yaz whispered in awe, “and I’m almost feeling bad for saying this right away, but… can we see them for real some time? Get the whole package deal with snow and icy cold and maybe even some reindeer?”

The Doctor knew she shouldn’t say it, given that Yaz’ last request had led them deep into her very own family history and probably scarred her for the rest of her life, yet it still tumbled from her lips as naturally as stars were colliding and burning every second throughout the universe. “Of course, anything and anytime you like.” 

And to the Doctor’s great surprise it felt just as right.

They watched the lights flicker and change, each of them following the colourful display and their own thoughts. Until the Doctor got restless again. Driven by the need to make this experience even more spectacular and memorable for Yaz, she came up with an idea. An idea as great as her ideas usually got. Meaning she was just short of congratulating herself.

A manic gleam in her eyes, she propped herself up on the foamy cushions not without some difficulty. “Wanna see a neat lil trick?”

“Anoth-”

Yaz didn’t even get the chance to finish before the Doctor pulled out her sonic in a flourish (she was pretty sure Yaz had already figured out that the dramatically outstretched arm was not in fact necessary to make it work its magic, but she just couldn’t help it) and pointed it right above them.

A surprised gasp filled the air as she felt Yaz grip tightly onto her sleeve. She turned her head to the side to see her friend’s mildly panicked face.

“Just breathe, relax, nothing can happen.”

The Doctor carefully watched as Yaz gave a nod of understanding, took a deep breath and with knitted eyebrows closed her eyes for a moment. The time lord followed suit, letting the tingling feeling unfurling from her middle wash over herself. When Yaz’ fingers relaxed as well and let go of her shirt just to quietly slip into her own hand it felt like a dwarf star burning in her palm. Now it was the Doctor’s turn to steady her breathing.

The blonde still hadn’t quite figured out how and why such simple gestures were able to ignite those strong reactions within her. Or why she always had the urge to sneak in the tiniest of touches. Was that who she was now? Was this body trying to make up for all the physical touches her last body had refused and deprived himself of? No, it was somehow always and almost exclusively Yaz her hands found their way to.

Of course she had noticed how in any case of danger, whenever they had to run, Yaz had been the first one she grabbed, pulled into safety one way or another. But that didn't have to mean anything, right? There was a logical explanation for everything, in this case it was obvious, really, since Yaz seemed to be right behind her wherever she went, a comforting presence right behind her back. 

Or when she herself had pulled her into danger. She still didn’t know why she had dragged her along, bomb in hand, when they tried to get the Pting off the ship. Just to give her a number to set the countdown to? She had to scoff at herself for that weak reasoning. And for how over all the adrenaline coursing through her bloodstream the feeling of Yaz’ body pressed to her back still had left an almost physical imprint on her.

A quiet voice pushed its way into her mind and those confusing thoughts out, for a while at least.

“We’re really floating, are we?”

The time lord made an incomprehensible gesture with her free hand. “Well actually we’re levitating but it doesn’t really make a difference, does it.” 

Yaz just good-naturedly shook her head, eyes gleaming in the light of the aurora. “Nah. I mean, okay, wow, I thought you were going for fireworks or something like that and was totally ready to roll my eyes at the cheesiness of it, but… this I really didn’t expect.”

“Ah, Yasmin Khan, you’ll find I’m always full of surprises.” 

She was met with a soft smile at that, the green and yellow bands above them glittering in eyes as dark as the night sky. Before she could do anything she might regret later, the Doctor rambled on.

“Also, the Northern Lights and fireworks just don’t mix all that well, don’t cha think? That would’ve totally ruined the mood, even in my book that is.” Yaz’ response was that quiet, another person - or human for that matter - might not have heard it, but to the Doctor it seemed as loud as a passing freight train.

“And what is _the mood_?”

The time lord’s jaws clicked shut. As types of questions went, it probably couldn’t get any worse now, she decided. Just as Gallifrey or her past in general, this was a story for another day. Or, like, preferably never.

The only thing that kept the Doctor from flailing (and fleeing) with her whole body was that she refused to let go of Yaz’ hand. Her body was such a traitor sometimes. “Did I say mood? I meant aesthetic of course! Sometimes words get all jumbled up on the way from my brains to my tongue - I mean, new tongue an’ all, still not completely used to that one!” 

To her utmost confusion, Yaz blushed again. Two blinks later, realisation about her words hit and she was just about ready to physically hit herself as well. Before she could do such a thing, however, Yaz squeezed their intertwined hands and thus pulled her out of her head once again.

“It’s okay, Doctor”, the tiny smile Yaz gave her beheld so many different emotions - knowing, understanding, patience, a whole galaxy - that she almost got whiplash trying to name them all before it was gone again, “we got all the time in the universe, right?”

And as she speechlessly looked at the woman beside her, the Doctor decided they’d need to get back to solid ground soon - before her body could fall as hard and fast as her heart did.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think, this author is thirsty for validation (as every other author, but that's beside the point)! <3


End file.
